Tonight marks the first time Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby skate on the same ice together. Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world. Connor McDavid is going to be the best player in the world. What a treat to see them play tonight.
1st 58 NHL games:
— Jack Michaels (@EdmontonJack) November 8, 2016
Crosby 28-37-65
McDavid 21-41-62
Crosby & McDavid rank 2nd & 3rd in pts/game (1st-P. Kane) since McDavid entered NHL.
The feat of keeping up with Crosby over the first 50-odd games of his career that McDavid has accomplished is doubly impressive for 2 reasons:
1) The post-lockout scoring rate was significantly higher than it is now. They were calling the hooking and holding so much that power plays dominated the game.
2) McDavid has maintained his scoring despite the fact that his top winger has gone cold for 9 straight games. Eberle is a cursed man right now.
Much like a young Crosby, McDavid is learning how to impact the game when teams are devoting all of their efforts to shutting you down. Even though there’s a significant talent gap between McDavid and the players trying to disrupt his game, these aren’t slugs. These are legitimate NHL players and even a virtuoso has trouble some times. He’s going to get it. He’s going to solve the puzzle.
McDavid is a scoring chance machine. Right now he still defaults to making the pass that sets up a linemate for a beautiful chance. Eventually he’s going to learn to be a bit more selfish. He’s not a volume shooter, but if he can add one more per game even then I think it’s going to break his offense wide open. Just one more time when he’s barreling down and he opts to shoot from the slot instead of passing over to his winger.
Sidney Crosby has been everything he was ever billed to be. He was the kid who became Captain. He was the playmaker who forced himself to become a 50 goals scorer. He is an Art Ross winner. Lester B. Pearson winner. Hart trophy winner. Rocket Richard winner. Conn Smyth winner. And Stanley Cup champion. Mix in some World Junior and World Championship gold along with a couple Olympic golds and you have the recipe for a no-brainer 1st ballot hall of famer.
As McDavid mentioned yesterday, if you can have half of that you’ve had an amazing career. Oiler fans would be thrilled if McDavid continues along the path he’s started and becomes the league’s best player. Even more so if he brings home a few added Championships to the city formerly known as the city of Champions.
Connor McDavid might have to play power vs power based on what Sullivan has said this morning. It’s something they like to do, and when you have the best player in the world why wouldn’t you? It’s safe to say that McDavid has never taken on an assignment like that before. It will make for some damned compelling TV, that’s for sure.
LINEUP
Puljujarvi will be a game-time decision depending on how warmups go. I’ll mark that down as 90% chance he’ll play in my made up book of sports probabilities.
Maroon McDavid Eberle Pouliot RNH Puljujarvi Lucic Draisaitl Pitlick Lander Letestu Beck
Klefbom Larsson Sekera Benning Nurse Gryba
Talbot Gustavsson
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) The Kid. An injury kept Sidney Crosby out of the Penguins lineup to start the year but he’s returned with a vengeance. He has 8 goals and 2 assists in just 6 games since his return. Crosby is shooting the lights out right now with a wild 38.1% on 21 shots. There is nobody more dangerous on the Penguins and it’s not as if the Oilers can turn their backs on Malkin or Kessel either. There’s a very high chance that Crosby will play directly opposite of McDavid for parts of this game. He’s going to give the Oiler phenom as much as he can handle. For the Oilers, this is like glimpsing into a mirror that shows you what you want to become.
2) Depth. The Oilers have finally started to turn a corner as a franchise and it’s no surprise that it’s happening in the year they finally have 6 NHL defenders and 4 NHL centermen on the roster. Injuries are testing how much depth the team really has, but the bleeding is localized to the outer frays of the roster for now. Edmonton’s depth is keeping the team in games. Pittsburgh’s is really doing the heavy lifting. The Oilers have 1 player (McDavid) with more than 0.75 points per game. The Penguins have 7 (Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Letang, Sheary, Hornqvist, Cullen).
3) Super Dave Pitlick. Ok. His name isn’t Dave (or Lance), it’s Tyler. Still, there’s something about Tyler Pitlick that reminds me of Super Dave Osborne in that he looks like he’s going to do it but then somehow ends up in pieces by the end. Right now, he’s doing it. He’s fast, he arrives with ill-intent, and he’s shooting 21% mainly from the 4th line. He’s a wrecking machine out there. A year ago he ruptured a spleen after delivering a substantial hit. He effectively recreated the conditions of a car crash, but on ice. His whole career has been one trip to the IR after another with glimpse of what made him an NHL prospect in between. I hope his body can hold it all together this year. He’s an intriguing player.
Puck drops at 5PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!
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